Wednesday, August 31, 2011

08/31/2011
With the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front panelist talking, certain points during that “secret”
meeting in Japan between Noynoy and MILF chieftain appear to bear out
suspicions that Noynoy did promise the MILF certain things, including a
substate for the BangsaMoro government, and a lot more besides, since
some Cabinet officials representing the very departments that are
excluded in the substate version of the MILF were also present.

The
MILF was pretty upbeat after the secret talks with Noynoy, and its
leaders were already talking as though the substate proposal they spoke
about was a done deal, with merely a final accord making it official.

Obviously
too, with the Budget Secretary Butch Abad also in the picture, money —
and a lot of it — not just a measly P5 million to keep the MILF happy —
was part of the secret meeting topic.

The talk apparently had
already revolved around a substate, with a BangsaMoro authority granted a
lot of state power and with the government of the Philippines having
the authority over national defense, foreign relations, currency and
postal services and would still be exercised by the central government..... MORE

08/31/2011
Noynoy and his budget boy show clear signs of making the Supreme Court (SC) toe the Malacañang line.

It
has become much too clear that Noynoy wants to control the high court,
to the point of having slashed the SC’s budget last year, and again this
year, with Malacañang insisting that P1.25 billion in the judiciary’s
budget should be under the executive department’s control, using the
mantra of “judicial transparency.”

The problem is that under the
Constitution, the judiiciary is protected by its fiscal autonomy,
besides which, Noynoy and his administration can hardly claim, in all
honesty, that they are transparent, especially about the funds. To this
day, Noynoy has not accounted for the expenses made on his 2011
P400-million intelligence funds, as well as his expenses in the matter
of the funds in his presidential social fund (PSF). No project has been
announced thus far that he had assisted though his PSF.

Today,
despite the utter lack of Palace transparency, Noynoy even has added
another P200 million to his inteligence fund, for a 2012 total of P600
million in intelligence fund alone, even if his office is strictly not
into intelligence gathering, which is the reason he cut off intel funds
in other departments..... MORE

The hawkish finance minister replaced
Naoto Kan as prime minister Tuesday to become the nation’s sixth new
leader in five years after the ruling Democratic Party of Japan chose
him as its new president over rival Banri Kaieda.

Noda, who likens
himself to a marine bottom-feeder rather than a glittering goldfish,
has stressed his credentials as a responsible, moderate and
middle-of-the road leader at a time of national crisis.

But there
is skepticism that will be enough, with his immediate priority the
passing of a third budget to pay for post-March 11 quake reconstruction
as he looks to revive an economy that has contracted for three straight
quarters..... MORE

08/31/2011
Sen. Miriam
Defensor-Santiago, she of the acerbic tongue and matchless wit, is at
her fightingest mode all over again. She has scored her colleagues’
propensity to undertake “inquiries-in-aid-of-legislation” instead of
buckling to actual legislative work and policy making. She admitted that
most of the time the probes do not really serve their purpose and,
worse, turn senators into two bit investigators and prosecutors. Herself
a darling of media, she decried the fact that the medium has actually
turned legislators into actors doing everything possible to get into the
news and bring attention to themselves rather than the topic at hand.
She called the hearings which are usually covered live on TV and radio
as variously “inquiries-in-aid-of-election” or
“inquiries-in-aid-of-public adulation.”

Said Santiago: “These
inquiries-in-aid-of-legislation or public hearings or public
investigation of the Senate are actually useless. It is valueless
because the most that we can do is refer the case to the Ombudsman or
the Department of Justice for them to study if there is probable cause
to conduct preliminary investigation. If we have the power of
preliminary investigation that would justify the time spent in these
proceedings, we become investigators and fiscals. But that is not the
case..... MORESource: The Daily Tribune

08/31/2011
PHNOM PENH — His saffron robe
a rare beacon among protesters, Cambodia’s most outspoken monk has been
banned from temples and risked arrest for challenging rights abuses —
but he vows not to be silenced.

“The more they threaten me, the
more I stand up for our rights,” said the Venerable Loun Sovath, also
known as the “multimedia monk” for filming forced evictions and
distributing the footage.

In a country where Buddhist monks are
hugely respected but rarely seen standing shoulder to shoulder with
those fighting abuses, his peaceful activism has attracted praise from
rights groups — and condemnation from authorities.

“Seeing a monk
among the crowd lifts the spirits of people defending their human
rights,” the bespectacled holy man told AFP during a recent interview in
the capital, where he joined a rally against deforestation..... MORE

The
United States had opposed the review of the controversial Visiting
Forces Agreement (VFA) with the Philippines even as the Philippine
government pointed out “defects” in the defense accord, a US Embassy
cable released by online whistleblower WikiLeaks said.

Former
Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Affairs Richard
Lawless, who visited in Manila in 2007, told Department of Foreign
Affairs Undersecretary Rafael Seguis in a meeting that there is no need
to review the agreement since it is working well for both countries.

Manila
is spe-cifically against a vague provision granting the US primary
custody of American military personnel ac-cused of breaking Philippine
laws. Surrendering erring American troops to Philippine authorities
would mean they would have to be incarcerated in a local jail, touted as
one of the worst prison cells in the world, and join other Filipino
inmates, a move the US government strongly objects.

This situation was put to a test when Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith was accused of raping a Filipina off military hours..... MORE

Bad
performance did in former Customs Commissioner Angelito Alvarez, and
not his claim of bad publicity which Alvarez insinuated to have been
orchestrated by smuggling syndicates, the Palace stated yesterday.

Bad
publicity was not the reason for President Aquino’s decision to sack
Alvarez, deputy presidential spokesman Abigail Valte said yesterday.

But
even as Aquino declared that he had already given the walking papers to
Alvarez, Valte claimed Aquino’s aides are being kept in the dark on his
replacement.

She is also uncertain when the actual turnover would take place..... MORE

The
Philippines yesterday finally withdrew its support for Libyan strongman
Moammer Kadhafi and announced that it is officially recognizing the
opposition-backed National Transitional Council (NTC) as the legitimate
government in Libya.

As members of the Kadhafi family departed
Libya and sought refuge in neighboring Algeria, the Department of
Foreign Affairs (DFA) referred to the NTC as the “legitimate
representative of the Libyan people” and urged it to “lead the country
toward peace and security.”

“The Philippines recognizes the
National Transitional Council as the legitimate representative of the
Libyan people during this period of transition in the country,” a DFA
statement said.

Manila’s support for the NTC indicates the
country’s new policy toward Libya after it had hesitated in the past to
immediately shift sides as Kadhafi’s grip on power waned to safeguard
hundreds of Filipino workers from possible retaliatory attacks..... MORE

08/31/2011
Newly installed Sen. Aquilino
“Koko” Pimentel III yesterday asked the Government Service Insurance
System (GSIS) to restore the monthly pensions of nearly 9,000 National
Power Corp. (Napocor) retirees that the state-run pension agency stopped
last April, allegedly in compliance with a Supreme Court ruling.

Pimentel
urged GSIS chairman Daniel Lacson and GSIS president and general
manager Robert Vergara to liberally interpret the laws in favor of its
members or beneficiaries.

“If, under our Labor Laws, a fair day’s
pays for a pair day’s work is a long accepted doctrine, the same should
equally apply to retirees who look at their retirement benefits as a
financial refuge in their old age,” Pimentel said.

Pimentel said
Napocor retirees have made invaluable contribution to the development of
the Philippine electric power industry and deserve due recognition for
services rendered..... MORE

08/31/2011
Bayan Muna Rep. Neri
Colmenares yesterday called on consumers to launch a people’s initiative
to repeal the Oil Deregulation Law considering that it has caused so
much price increases in oil products and has not served its purpose of
lowering its cost.

This will be a parallel initiative to
Congressional action on bills filed by Bayan Muna and the progressive
block in Congress to repeal the Oil Deregulation Law.

“It is about
time the people take “the law into their own hands,” said Colmenares.
“Actions within and outside Congress could help push the eventual repeal
of the law that has allowed spiralling fuel prices in the country.”

Colmenares
said that “an “Initiative” is the power of the people to propose
amendments to the Constitution or to propose and enact legislations
through a petition of 10% of the registered voters.”.... MORE

08/31/2011
Labor Secretary Rosalinda
Baldoz yesterday said the Board of Nursing (BoN) of the Professional
Regulation Commission has scrapped the usual mass oath-taking of newly
registered nurses beginning with the successful examinees of the July
2011 Nursing Licensure Examination.

Baldoz said the move is in response to the Aquino government’s call for prudent budget management.

She
said Commission ChairmanTeresita Manzala reported to her that the BoN
has decided to do away with the mass oath-taking of successful
examinees, citing the current socio-economic condition being experienced
by Filipino families, especially the income class where majority of the
nurses belong.

“While the oath-taking is a requirement of law,
the Board [of Nursing] decided to simplify it to save on costs and other
expenses relevant to the holding of the traditional mass oath-taking.
The oath-taking ceremony, however, will still be undertaken either
individually or by groups upon their registration for nurse licenses
with the PRC,” Manzala explained..... MORE

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

08/30/2011
The nation hasn’t yet
recovered from the surprise that Noynoy pulled in that secret meeting
held with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chairman, Al Haj
Murad Ebrahim, in Japan that many saw as a revival of the scuttled
Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MoA-AD) which sought to
create the unconstitutional Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE), now
Malacañang has sprung another whammy in the $50-billion joint
exploration agreement that may be brought up in Noynoy’s visit to China
starting Aug. 30.

The agreement sounds like another rerun of
another controversial past deal. The Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking
Agreement with China during the Arroyo administration was assailed as
being grossly tilted toward China’s since it allowed the exploration of
areas which are not part of the disputed territories. The Senate then
said that going through with the agreement would be an impeachable
offense on the part of the President.

The Palace has not released
any details on the agreement, merely giving an assurance that the
administration would assure that the agreement would be fair on the
benefits to be derived from it..... MORE

08/30/2011
Strange are truly the ways of
the Commission on Elections (Comelec) — despite the country being under
a claimed honest and transparent Aquino administration.

One would
have thought that, having Noynoy appointees to head the Comelec, the
electorate can now hope to have a clean poll body and clean polls.

But
it appears that no such thing is likely to happen — especially as the
2013 senatorial polls loom, with, no doubt, Noynoy wanting to ensure the
victory of his senatorial bets — which means bets largely coming from
the Liberal Party ranks.

While a joint probe body headed by both
the Department of Justice and the Comelec will be conducting hearings on
the alleged 2004 and 2007 election fraud and the designated members
named, the Comelec chairman apparently had a change of mind and pulled
out its former law department director Ferdinand Rafanan as member of
the joint Comelec-DoJ panel..... MORE

Recall
that we never really hear anything from Iggy Arroyo. Not a peep, on
issues big or small. He just really creeps out of the woodwork whenever
there’s need to defend the bro’. And look here, for this time around,
he’s not even well, there’s talk about a serious ailment that needed to
be treated all the way in London. Yet he broke free from the treatment,
albeit momentarily, to confer with lawyers, and thereafter issue
statements clearing utol of anything and everything, along the lines of
“Whatever it is, it ain’t Jose Miguel whodunit, I dunnit.”

So,
‘ayan. The helicopters Sen. Ping Lacson’s witnesses say were actually
owned by the former First Gentleman and used in his wife’s 2004 campaign
and then sold to the Philippine National Police as brand new? Ex-FG
knew nothing about that, because it was all Iggy’s doing. And then Iggy
proceeds to tell an unlikely tale of choppers not really owned by them,
but merely leased. So on and so forth, ad nauseum, with Iggy clearly
expecting us to believe him..... MORE

08/30/2011
This outsider has it on good
authority that in the recent past, former president Joseph Estrada has
developed an admiration for Claro M. Recto, who over the course of his
career evolved from traditional politician to consistent nationalist.
Had Recto’s nationalism begun to work its magic earlier, there would
have been no question of Mr. Estrada attempting to remove the
nationalist safeguards from the Constitution during his abbreviated
presidency. It would seem, however, that son Jinggoy has yet to fall
under the Recto spell, for he is calling for the “outdated charter” to
be amended.
Another senator supporting a review of the economic
provisions is Antonio Trillanes IV. According to the Philippine Star
report of Aug. 16, his main interest seems to lie in securing a
reduction in domestic shipping rates (presumably by the introduction of
foreign competition, although this is far from clear). He also argues
that Congress should discuss and vote on the amendments one by one, in
the same manner as normal legislation, thus obviating the need for a
constitutional convention or constituent assembly, either of which might
be railroaded into a sweeping revision of the Charter.
It is
surprising to see Trillanes’ name associated with revision or
elimination of the economic provisions because he is held to be a
staunch nationalist. Indeed, when I interviewed Sonny Melencio earlier
this year for my current book project (the third and final volume of a
history of the Philippine left; the first volume was published by UP
Press in 2007 as Forcing the Pace, while the second, A Movement Divided,
will be issued by the same publisher very shortly), he recalled how,
when he had visited Trillanes in detention, the latter had expressed
opposition to socialism on the grounds that it was “foreign.” So too,
Melencio pointed out, is nationalism, meaning that some ideologies,
although originated in specific geographical/historical circumstances,
can have universal application.
.... MORE

08/30/2011
SYDNEY — It’s more than 40
years since Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon, but
his memories of the historic flight remain as undimmed as his passion
for further exploration of space.

The Apollo 11 commander, now
aged 81, relived the 1969 mission that enthralled the world as he
watched Google’s new high-definition images of the moon in Australia
last week.

The pictures, available on YouTube since May but which
Armstrong said he had only just seen, show Apollo 11’s landing spot,
including the fuel cell left behind which it also used as a launch pad.

“So
for the sceptics about whether we ever landed on the moon — this is a
pretty good indication that somebody’s done it,” he quipped to a
business audience that had paid hundreds of dollars to hear him speak..... MORE

08/30/2011
There was this recent
disappearing act of no less than the President of the Republic: It was
called a “visit.” It was done “abroad.” It was held “secret” in nature
and objective.

Thus it came to pass that there was a time when the
country had a President who could be then rightfully considered
“missing” by the People of the Philippines — until the rare phenomenon
was eventually brought to their attention. The cat is out of the bag.
The issue is big. The implication is profound.

Briefly said, true
or false, the distinct occasion brought to fore a distinct concern about
the distinct matter of a “substate” in Mindanao — or something the
like. The reactions were serious and immediate. Those indirectly
concerned registered their reservations. Those directly concerned came
up with their own convictions.

Thus came to pass the huge and
shrieking headline of a well-known national daily echoing the choice
occasioned by the said “visit.” In other words, some kind of an
alternative was given to the Malacañang occupant: “Popularity or Peace.”
Translation: Disregard the establishment of the “substate” and remain
“popular.” See to it the “substate” becomes a reality and “peace” would
be the fruit thereof..... MORE

By Mario J. Mallari 08/30/2011
A supposed
renegade member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Ameril
Umbra Kato vowed yesterday to destroy peace efforts between the
government and the secessionist group as the main MILF negotiators
questioned the government’s offered formula of a “Bangsamoro Commission”
in its proposed draft peace agreement, claiming such does not provide
real autonomy to the Moro people.

Surrounded by a small band of
ragtag but ruthless followers, hardline Muslim rebel commander Kato
vowed to destroy the latest peace efforts.

Decades of fighting
have neither wearied nor diluted the resolve of the Saudi
Arabian-educated guerrilla, and he warns he remains willing to kill and
die in his quest to achieve an independent Muslim homeland in the
resource-rich Mindanao.

Jun Mantawil, head of the MILF peace panel
secretariat, meanwhile, said the government of the Philippines’ (GPH)
proposed draft agreement was not meant to allow Bangsamoro people
self-determination being pursued by the MILF..... MORE

Earlier
denials of an impending top-level revamp at the Bureau of Customs
(BoC), notwithstanding, President Aquino yesterday announced that he had
sacked Customs Commissioner Angelito Alvarez who came under fire
following the disclosure that 2,000 container vans vanished into thin
air right under the nose of the Customs chief.

In pre-recorded
interview over Radio Mindanao Network, Aquino disclosed that he had
fired Alvarez and had found a replacement for him without giving a name,
bolstering lingering speculations the President’s action has long been a
done deal although he tried very hard to deny it.

Aquino’s announcement came a day before his scheduled five-day state visit to the People’s Republic of China.

Alvarez, meanwhile, said he will start packing his bag after Aquino confirmed his dimissal..... MORE

08/30/2011
Filipinos who are overstaying
after performing “Umrah,” a form of pilgrimage, are given until Sept.
14 to leave Saudi Arabia, the largest Islamic state in the Middle East
and where the two Holy Mosques are located, without being penalized,
according to a Filipino migrants right group.

Migrante-Middle East
regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona said last April 27 the
Saudi Ministry of Interior announced that a Royal amnesty was granted to
expatriates who have violated residency rules and overstayed as
reflected on their ‘umrah’ visas on Sept. 22, 2010 for a period of six
months or up to March 23, 2011. This has been extended up to Sept. 14,
2011.

“Filipinos who were overstaying after performing ‘Umrah’
have barely 15 days to avail themselves of the Royal pardon. They could
leave Saudi Arabia without any corresponding penalty, monetary and weeks
of detention at the deportation center till Sept. 14,” Monterona added.

Monterona
said overstaying Filipinos can directly proceed to any Saudi
international airports and will only be required by Saudi immigration
authorities to present his or her passport along with the expired
‘umrah’ visa and airplane ticket..... MORE

A
proposition has been laid down in the Senate where government
procurement transactions are being required to be video-taped, in the
hope of preventing and discouraging corruption.

Sen. Antonio
Trillanes IV proposed to make mandatory the video recording of all the
meetings and proceedings starting from the level of the bids and awards
committee (BAC) to ensure transparency and honesty in the execution of
government policies.

Five years since the enactment of the
Government Procurement Reform Act or Republic Act 9184 is still plagued
with collusion, abuse of discretionary criteria, malfeasance,
misfeasance, and other forms of corruption, the senator noted.

“It is high time that we use video recording in all the procurement
transactions of the government to prevent corruption issues like the
anomalous purchase of helicopters by the PNP (Philippine National
Police) officials,” Trillanes said..... MORE

In
a sign of the times, postal officials yesterday said its cash- strapped
operations could no longer provide free “snail mail” service to the
country’s judicial system and asked the Supreme Court (SC) to formally
review the “franking privilege” it enjoys.

Despite recent rules
allowing electronic evidence and other advances in paperless
documentation, the bulk of pleadings before the courts are still
paper-based copies sometimes requiring up to 11 copies of a single
pleading.

The Philippine Postal Corp. (Philpost) is now asking the
high court to share in the cost of transporting the franked mail by
air..... MORE

08/30/2011
Multinational companies
manufacturing condoms and other contraceptives are behind the push for
the passage of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill, a lawmaker from Manila
said yesterday.

According to Manila Rep. Amado Bagatsing, the
multinational companies, mostly American pharmaceutical firms, are
expected to earn some P200 million every day from the sale of
contraceptives in the country.

Bagatsing,
a member of a congressional bloc opposing the bill, said the Philippine
government is being dictated upon by the United States through the
Millennium Development Goals. He added the Philippines has nothing to
gain from the bill, except to buy and give out condoms and other
contraceptives..... MORE

Monday, August 29, 2011

08/29/2011
No, it’s not the sci-fi
action flick we are writing about. It’s about the real “Transformers” in
our world — those giant, steel-hearted, mechanical monsters roaming the
boardrooms of power companies that “transform” public utilities into
humongous profit machines. It’s about power companies that transform the
public’s need for electricity into an unimaginable nightmare for
millions of Filipino consumers.

Once the Lopez Group, the
Philippine Electric Corp. (Philec) and the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco)
are both seen in this light. One supplies actual power transformers and
related equipment to the other at what many consider as massive
transfer prices of up to 500 percent or more. Our source, who will only
testify in public once Congress musters the courage to conduct an
honest-to-goodness investigation, claims to have the goods on this.

For
a time, as Meralco transitioned from the old guard to the new, sanguine
hopes about the eventual dissolution of the tight embrace between the
two said companies were raised. It was even claimed that power prices
will be brought down since that kind of a set-up will end with the
change in management.

It has been pointed out by industry watchers
that these so-called “sweetheart deals” form a major component of
Meralco’s capital base submission to the state regulatory body, the
Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), upon which the past 12-percent
Return-on-Rate Base (RoRB) and the current 15.8-percent Performance
Based Regulation (PBR) rate setting schemes are computed. If the
supplies and equipment — from transformers, electric poles, to project
costs of installations such as substations or plants — are overpriced by
exponential percentages, then so are our electricity rates.

The
source of this news has, in fact, gone directly to the original
equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of Philec which price power transformers
for each mega volt-ampere (MVA), similar to horsepower in engines.
In
the Taiwan OEM plant visited by our informant for the purpose of
getting the real bottom price, for instance, a quote of P250,000/MVA was
given — far less than the P600,000/MVA reported in the Philippines,
even if the usual discounts of 30 and 15 percent given to buyers,
including most Philippine electric cooperatives, were to be deducted.

Further, if a high-end Japanese brand is preferred, which the Taiwanese
plant also officially produces, then a simple expedient of tacking on
the Japanese brand’s steel plate for it to be priced higher is resorted
to. Is this what Meralco does?

In claiming the need for a
top-of-the-line variant, it uses the Japanese name plate to increase the
quote as well as its capital base with the ERC — which the regulating
agency unfortunately approves without as much as a whimper — to the tune
of P1,600,000/MVA!

When the Lopez Group sold control of Meralco,
there was indeed that opportunity to cut the monopolistic relationship
between the two inextricably linked power firms, with hopes that rates
will go down in spite of the already escalating bent of the onerous PBR.
But nothing has changed. Filings made for the power distributor’s
capital expenditures continue to be based on vastly overpriced claims;
hence, its 80 to 90 percent yearly profit increases.

Fortunately,
power consumers all over the country have begun to understand more
comprehensively the massive swindle that is the Electric Power Industry
Reform Act (Epira), or the post-Edsa II power privatization law that has
spawned many “monsters:”

From the ERC that is believed to be
captured by Meralco; to the state holding firm Power Sector Assets and
Liabilities Management Corp. (Psalm) that is petitioning for consumers
to shoulder the Universal Charge that will pay for $18 billion (still!)
in National Power Corp. (Napocor) debts, which were promised to have
been paid with privatization but never were; to the National Grid Corp.
of the Philippines (NGCP) that wants to raise rates to pay for damages
caused by typhoons “Ondoy,” “Basyang,” etc., leaving its multi-billion
insurance untouched; to the Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (Pemc)
that wants to raise rates for “administrative modernization” (a
euphemism for raising officers’ salaries); to its adjunct, the Wholesale
Electricity Spot Market (Wesm), which averages rates based on the
highest (instead of the lowest) fluctuations, there are certainly more
Epira monsters to discover — and decipher.

What puzzles is that
Congress, which is into every sort of investigation imaginable, has not
touched on the festering and oppressive electricity scams being
perpetrated right before our very eyes. It seems the likes of Rep.
Henedina Abad and Sen. Serge Osmeña, who head their respective chamber’s
energy committees, are oblivious to appearing as stooges of these power
giants.

Given this, will anyone else take the cudgels for the
suffering Philippine economy, our industries, and our people? Or is
everyone just too scared of the Philippines’ very own, steel-hearted,
steel-fisted “Transformers”? The answer need not be more than meets the
eye.

08/29/2011
The long held view that the
United States had resented the expanded ties between China and the
Philippines during the administration of former President Arroyo was
challenged by recent leaked cables from the whistle-blower Web site
Wikileaks.

Instead of condemnation, the US post in the country
considered the warming up of relations in both trade and political
spheres as a natural consequence of the expanding influence of China in
the region and the thrust of the US government then against terrorism
which was perceived as incompatible to the country’s goals.

The
communication did not hide the fact about perceptions that most of the
Chinese contracts with the government are tainted with corruption, but
the overriding interest of the US was obviously how the dealings with
China would impact on the traditional role of the Philippines as its
closest ally in the region.

The encompassing message from the
leaked cable was that China is using its new found economic strength to
buy off influence in the region and that the botched National Broadband
Network (NBN) project awarded to Chinese supplier ZTE was one of such
efforts..... MORE

08/29/2011
The rationale behind the
scrapping of intelligence funds in many government departments, so
claimed Budget Secretary Butch Abad, was that these were not involved in
any intelligence gathering, which does sound logical.

But it then
must be asked why Noynoy has increased his intelligence funds by P200
million, bringing a total budget outlay for 2012 to some P600 million in
intelligence funds for him alone, since the Office of the President
certainly is far from being engaged in intelligence gathering.

At
the same time, the intel budget for the Nica (National Intelligence
Coordinating Agency), which is an intelligence agency and presumably
into intel gathering, was slashed. So was the military intelligence
budget when the Armed Forces of the Philippines, at least through the
Intelligence Service of the AFP or Isafp, is into intelligence
gathering. What then is the justification of slashing the AFP intel
budget, while increasing the Philippine National Police and related
agencies’ intelligence budget?

Even more glaring is the fact that
while Noynoy had his intel budget increased by P200 million, it was
reported that the Office of the Vice President’s intel budget was
completely scrapped. Why then, if the Office of the President needs an
additional P200 million for Noynoy’s intelligence funds, is the Budget
secretary scrapping the intel funds of the Office of the Vice President?.... MORE

MANILA – Transportation secretary Mar Roxas is earning the ire of
Filipino workers and people, said the progressive labor center Kilusang
Mayo Uno (KMU) in a statement, as Roxas defended the privatization of
the MRT and LRT and, according to KMU, also justified the hiring of
strike-breakers in PAL (Philippine Air Lines).

Privatizing the railways and subsidizing the profits of private
contractors, like what is happening now, has been blamed by various
peoples’ organizations as the reason behind the looming fare hikes in
MRT and LRT.

“We don’t think this is the best way to prepare for the next
elections,” warned Elmer “Bong” Labog, chairman of progressive labor
center Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), to Mar Roxas who is perceived as gearing
up for the next presidential elections.

Begrudging subsidies for mass transport

In the budget deliberations in Congress, Roxas said that if the
budget would be raised to increase the government’s subsidy per train
passenger, then they (the DOTC) would not run out of funds for subsidies
and so they would not have to consider “burden-sharing,” or increasing
the MRT and LRT fares.

Roxas and other DOTC officials at the budget hearing in Congress.(Photo by Marya Salamat / bulatlat.com)

Roxas’ proposed budget slashed by 38-percent the government subsidy
on MRT for 2012—from P6.9 billion ($162.7 million) to P4.29-billion
($101.15 million), despite reports of annual increases in passenger
load. Asked by Anakpawis Partylist Rep. Rafael Mariano if the cut meant
there would be fare hikes, Roxas replied that they will not be sourcing
all the resulting budget shortfall on fare hikes alone.

Roxas asked the Congress to “realign” the country’s tax-based
spending because, he said, reminding the lawmakers that it was they who
had pointed it out, “only the Metro Manila train riders have been
enjoying a train ride that’s P55-subsidized per rider, when the rest of
the country who are not in Metro Manila and not riding these trains have
also been paying taxes.”

Roxas said it is the taxpayers in other regions who are “losing” in
the railways’ operations and not the government. Such imbalance in using
public money was not invoked, however, for the rest of the DOTC’s
proposed P26.5-billion ($625million) projects in 2012 to build or
upgrade airports, ports and lighthouses. Many of which would facilitate
the operations of foreign investments in its covered districts, said
some lawmakers who asked Roxas to fast-track or improve the said
projects.

Roxas emphasized in the budget deliberation and in media interviews
the need for “burden-sharing” between the government and the commuters
in financing the operations of MRT and LRT.... MORE

08/29/2011
The question being asked as
P-Noy prepares for his five-day state visit to China tomorrow is not so
much the possible outcome of this trip. It is clear that despite the
heated exchanges over the Spratlys including the misplaced and
insensitive issuances spewed out by administration officials on the
Luneta hostage tragedy, the Chinese will ever be the gracious hosts they
have always been known to be. I am sure they will do all they can to
give P-Noy and his huge entourage (is it true some 200 businessmen will
accompany him on this trip?) all the courtesies and perks befitting a
head of state. Thanks to their solid understanding of historical ties,
the Chinese will shower P-Noy with loads of bacon in terms of
investments, trade, aid and tourism packages as well as directed
people-to-people exchanges.

But the test, the real question which will definitely hang over this
visit, is whether P-Noy can summon the courage and the stamina to
acknowledge that our country’s future will require balancing his
decidedly pro-American tendencies with that of enhancing proper and
responsible fraternal relations with China — our big neighbor and the
world’s other emerging power. Which is precisely why in a previous
column we noted that P-Noy and his advisers may be misreading the wave
of the future by unduly hyping the Spratlys issue which is widely seen
as a US induced “problem” while down playing if not totally ignoring the
more immediate and, yes, solvable issues on hand such as those related
to the Luneta fiasco. That is a No-No by any measure..... MORE

Former
Vice President Noli de Castro and members of the board of Home
Development Mutual Fund (HDMF), also known as the Pag-IBIG Fund, during
his term are not yet off the hook regarding a P12-billion housing loan
scam and could also be charged over the multibillion-peso anomaly as
they were the ones who approved the loans that defrauded the government.

Sen.
Sergio Osmena III said the possibility of the former Vice President and
Pag-IBIG officials being indicted along with Globe Asiatique Realty and
Holdings Corp. executives is not remote considering the role they
played in approving the release of the loans made by alleged fictitious
borrowers.

Last Wednesday, the Department of Justice (DoJ)
recommended the filing of syndicated estafa charges against officials of
Globe Asiatique led by Delfin Lee, its president and chief operating
officer, and four others in connection with loans granted to it by HDMF
through “special buyers” and “ghost borrowers.”.... MORE

08/29/2011
Super typhoon “Mina” killed
at least eight persons and left flattened bridges and blocked roads in
its wake as it moved away from the Philippines and churned toward
Taiwan, officials yesterday said.

The toll of dead and missing is
likely to rise as officials assess the full impact of the storm, the
strongest to hit the country this year, Emilia Tadeo of the Office of
the Civil Defense (OCD) damage report section said.

“After the
rains have subsided, that is only when we find the additional casualties
and damage, when the local responders submit them to us,” Tadeo told
Agence France Presse.

Five were killed by landslides, including
two children, buried by an avalanche of rubbish at a tip in the northern
mountain city of Baguio, the OCD said..... MORE

By Mario J. Mallari 08/29/2011
Despite
the “deadlock” in the peace negotiation with the government of the
Republic of the Philippines (GRP), the Moro Islamic Liberation Front
(MILF) would still push with its proposed establishment of Bangsamoro
substate to address the decades-long Mindanao conflict.

MILF chief
negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said that the government’s counter proposal
was way behind the MILF expectations, citing previous agreements by the
peace panels, including the “reframing” of the Memorandum of Agreement
on Ancestral Domain (MoA-AD) which was junked as unconstitutional by the
Supreme Court in 2008.

The MILF negotiator stressed that he does
not know if the government could reconsider its proposal “but the MILF
would push through with our proposal.”

Iqbal, however, admitted
being “frustrated” by the GRP’s counter proposal which meant that the
long years of negotiations went back to scratch..... MORE

By Gerry Baldo 08/29/2011
The House
committee on appropriations has approved the P1.816-trillion proposed
national budget next year and is expected to deliberate on the measure
in plenary on Sept. 6.

According to Cavite Rep. Joseph Emilio
Aguinaldo Abaya, chairman of the panel, the House is right on track in
the budget deliberations even the 2012 budget would be ready for signing
by the President before the year ends.

“We passed the committee
report last Friday. We will sponsor the general appropriations bill in
the plenary on Sept. 6,” Abaya said yesterday.

Abaya added the
proposed budget, which was approved by his committee, was no different
from what Malacañang had proposed and that it included the controversial
P39.4 billion allotment for the Department of Social Welfare and
Development (DSWD)’s conditional cash transfer..... MORE

The
Department of Education (DepEd) announced over the weekend it had moved
the National Career Assessment Examination (NCAE) from August 31 to
September 28.

Changes will also be made as Education Secretary
Armin Luistro said the NCAE will now be administered for third-year high
school students both in public and private secondary schools.

“We
deem it better to administer the NCAE to third year high school
students to give them sufficient time for comprehensive career guidance
before they enter the tertiary level,” Luistro said.

Also expected
to take the NCAE are fourth year high school students applying for
scholarship programs of the Commission on Higher Education (Ched) and
the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda).Under
DepEd Order No. 28, fourth-year students who will take the NCAE for Ched
and Tesda scholarship should belong to the top 10 percent of each
secondary high school regardless of school size..... MORE

Members
of the House of Representatives yesterday urged the Department of Health
(DoH) to strictly monitor its blood donation program in the light of
reports that some donations may have been tested positive for the human
immunodeficiency virus-Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV-AIDS).

Citizens
Battle Against Corruption party-list Rep. Sherwin Tugna stressed the
DoH must strictly monitor blood donation in the country so as not to
jeopardize the lives of so many people and stop the spread of the virus.

“We
have to closely look at blood donation scheme in the country because
the possibility of serious HIV spread is always there, especially if the
system is left unchecked,” Tugna said.

Tugna also stressed the
need for the other concerned government and private agencies to
intensify the information drive on the fight against the spread of
HIV-AIDS..... MORE

By Arlie O. Calalo 08/29/2011
Exhumation
of the remains of the Grand Old Lady of the Katipunan, Melchora Aquino,
from Himlayang Pilipino for transfer to the Tandang Sora Shrine now has a
good chance of gaining congressional approval after the National
Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) backed Quezon City’s
claims to have the remains transferred to the heroine’s birth place on
Banlat Road in Tandang Sora.

The non-inclusion of Himlayang
Pilipino in the list of NHCP’s national historical shrines and the
failure of the memorial park’s administration to provide the city
government with valid documents supporting claims that Tandang Sora
should remain buried there, have bolstered QC’s interest to pursue the
transfer of the heroine’s remains which has long been requested by her
family.

Tandang Sora’s remains were transferred to Himlayang Pilipino in 1970.

“QC
is not giving up its claims to exhume Tandang Sora’s remains. Nothing
will be more timely and fitting than to have her rightfully buried in
her original birthplace during the commemoration of her bicentennial
year on Jan. 6, 2012,” said Mayor Herbert Bautista during a meeting with
members of the QC Task Force Tandang Sora..... MORE

Sunday, August 28, 2011

08/28/2011
Libel cases are usual fares
for newspapers for solely doing its bare function of writing stories as
they are. The daily grind is to gather stories up to deadline hour and
then write these faithfully the way an event happened or that of the
story related to the reporter.
The Tribune is a magnet for libel
cases since it never wavered on printing stories as they are, no
embellishment, no fear, no favor.
One of the more influential
names in the country recently became the subject of a story printed in
The Tribune merely quoting the content of government documents
recommending his arrest and the complaint of the individual that sought a
legal remedy on him that law enforcers were not acting to implement an
order for his detention.
The result was one libel case filed in
multiple courts that was clearly intended to harass the newspaper’s
editors. Of the eight or so different court venues for the libel case
about five were dismissed owing to grounds having to do with
no-jurisdiction as well as multiplicity of suits, which would be no
different from multiple forum shopping..... MORE

08/28/2011
A kind of a message seems to
have been sent by the Court of Appeals (CA) to the Senate, as well as to
the House of Representatives when it granted the habeas corpus plea of
petitioner, Rollie del Rosario, husband of then detained former LTA Inc.
bookkeeper, Rowena del Rosario, a day after the Senate freed her from
detention.

The CA could have easily dropped the habeas plea, since
the detention issue was already moot, but the court didn’t. Instead,
the court granted the habeas plea, which gives the impression that this
grant was a message for any future abusive action on the Senate’s power
to immediately order the arrest and detention of any invited guest as
resource person, or “witness” merely because that resource person fails
to give the answers senators want to hear, which answer senators wanted
would prove their “case” against whoever they accuse of whatever crime..... MORE

08/28/2011
TOUWS RIVER — The giant rhino
slumps to the ground with haunting cries as it fights for its life, a
bloodied, fleshy pulp in the place where poachers sawed off its horn.

The
critically injured male is one of the latest victims in South Africa’s
rhino bloodbath, which is surging on privately owned reserves as
criminal syndicates target easier prey for the Asian black market.

“I’m
at war,” exhausted owner Searl Derman told AFP before heading out again
with a veterinarian to try to treat the highly stressed animal.

It’s
an expensive battle: Derman has racked up bills for tracking
helicopters, vets and 24-hour anti-poaching measures, but is competing
with hunters who are chasing horns that fetch half-a-million dollars a
kilo..... MORE

08/28/2011
More than 2,000 containers
disappeared on its way to the Port of Batangas, with government losing
billions in forgone revenues, we had written earlier. But there is again
talk that another 1,470 containers have again been diverted from MICP
to fake warehouses with government losing several more billions.

How
can this happen right under the very noses of the Commissioner of
Customs and his officials? How could they release these 1,470 container
vans filled with resins with an estimated value per container of P3
million without paying a single centavo as tax and duty to the
government? It is mind boggling how Customs officials can conspire to
perpetrate this very big scam.

The scam allgedly occurred when
1,470 container vans loaded with resins were transferred to the Port of
Manila from MICP but were diverted by the consignee in connivance with
Customs officials to fake and fictitious bonded warehouses instead of
arriving at the port of destination which is the Port of Manila. The
1,470 containers loaded with valuable and highly dutiable goods were
allegedly all consigned to only one company, Xurich Corp., which must be
filthy rich to import an estimated P5 billion worth of resins. Can you
believe that this Xurich Corp. is allegedly a fake one, and yet the BoC
headed by Angelito Alvarez was able to accredit the said corporation as
an Industry-Specific Bonded Warehouse (ICBW) despite the absence of a
mayor’s and business permit being submitted to the BoC. Talk is that the
address presented to the BoC which is Unit 206 Joncor Bldg. at 1362 A.
Mabini St. Ermita, Manila, turned out to be fictitious as the existing
occupant of the said address is a travel agency and not a bonded
warehouse, which was what Xurich claimed. It’s non-existence at Joncor
building was certified by the building administrator stating that no
Xurich Corp. ever occupied any room in the building in the last 15
years. Who could be behind this Xurich as its capitalist?.... MORE

08/28/2011
Just asking
So brief
but many intriguing possibilities it said. So plain but pleasant
thoughts it evoked. So plain but big wonders it caused. This was the
combined precious and loaded message that “Wow Philippines!” very well
delivered and so long remembered. Foreign tourist came. Foreign income
increased. And everybody was happy: The tourists themselves. The Tourist
Agencies and Organizations. The Tourist Industry in general. The
Tourist guides and many others, included.

Just asking

A
new administration came. A new tourism leadership emerged. A new
tourism come-on was invented. The former proverb “Wow Philippines!” was
nonchalantly shelved. A supposedly new and better tourism slogan was
invented: “Pilipinas Kay Ganda” — or something the like. Certain
perplexing questions came to fore: Was the invention in effect inspired
by foreign consultants? Did the invention simply copy some tourism
figures from this or that country? Is it true that so much expenses were
incurred from the making to the launching of the invention?.... MORE

08/28/2011
The most recent victim of the
rumored internal great divide in Malacañang is Land Transportation
Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB) official Nelson Laluces. Rumor
mills are rife over a Laluces fiasco involving the approval of the sale
and transfer of franchise of BLTB Co. (a bus company) to Del Monte Bus
Co. owned by Narciso Morales, who was said to be a distant relative of
Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa. Recently, from his hot seat, Tourism
Secretary Alberto Lim also bailed out and tendered his resignation over
rumors of under-performance, since it has been a year now and it seems
that he is still groping in the dark over his post.

He started
off with the infamous tourism campaign Pilipinas Kay Ganda. And in one
presidential spur of the fast tongue P-Noy lashed out on him as one of
those secretaries who regularly brings him “headaches.”

A little
far back, a bejeweled “Cory original,” former Transportation and
Communications Secretary Jose Ping de Jesus resigned over the rumored
telecommunications row between Globe and Smart and amid the DoTC’s
deliberations on whether to raise the fares of the Light and Metro Rail
Transit (LRT/MRT) systems. Retired General Ernesto Diokno of the Bureau
of Corrections, also a certified Cory general came next over a rumored
coddling of convicted murderer, former Batangas Gov. Antonio Leviste..... MORE

08/28/2011
The United States subscribed
to the view that dynastic families that included the Arroyos, the
Aboitizes and the Lopezes, waging a protracted war against each other
was behind the bitter board room struggle between the Lopez family and
the state pension fund Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) for
control of dominant electricity distributor Manila Electric Co.
(Meralco) toward the end of the previous administration of President
Gloria Arroyo, leaked cables from the US Embassy showed.

The cable
which was among some 3,071 communications of the US diplomatic post in
Manila released the other day by whistle-blower site Wikileaks said “the
conflict, which some analysts see as a feud between the Arroyo and
Lopez families, has eroded the appearance of stability that Philippine
economic managers want to project, and may give foreign investors qualms
about the Philippine power sector.”

The US Embassy viewed the
struggle for control of Meralco as highlighting the role of prominent
families in business and government and creates uncertainty that could
damage efforts to attract investors.

“Lack of additional
investment into the power sector will almost certainly leave Filipino
consumers more vulnerable to power disruptions,” it noted..... MORE

08/28/2011
Malacañang yesterday said it
was hesitant about recognizing Libya’s rebels, with the welfare of some
1,600 Filipino workers in the north African country still its foremost
concern.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the government
was monitoring the situation in Libya as the regime of longtime leader
Moammar Kadhafi collapses in the wake of a series of rebel victories.

“What
is important for us in the Philippines is the protection of our own
Filipino workers. That is our primary consideration now (over) whether
or not to recognize Libya’s (National Transitional Council, or NTC),” he
told reporters.

On Wednesday, the Libyan Embassy in the
Philippines defected to the rebels’ side, raising the red, black and
green flag of the anti-Kadhafi forces..... MORE

08/28/2011
The Department of Labor an
Employment (DoLE) yesterday said that private workers who will report
for work on Aug. 29 and 30, which was declared as non-working holidays
are entitled to 200 percent pay.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz
said August 29 is a regular holiday by virtue of Proclamation No. 84
that President Aquino issued on Dec. 20, 2010, while August 30 is also
regular holiday by virtue of Proclamation No. 234 in celebration of the
Eid’l Fitr.

“The purpose of the celebration of National Heroes Day
is to accord fullest honors to the greatness, first of all, of our
heroes who offered their sweat, blood, and lives so we may attain our
freedoms, and second, to the resiliency of ordinary Filipinos who
continue to love their country and endeavor to live honorable lives that
honor our heroes and our countrymen,” the labor chief said.

“On
the other hand, we share our brothers and sisters, the Muslim Filipinos,
in their celebration of Eid’l Fitr, or the Feast of Ramadhan, which
falls on August 30,” Baldoz said..... MORE

By Charlie V. Manalo 08/28/2011
The
government, in cooperation with the global community, must come up with a
long-term blueprint for programs that would mitigate the impact of
climate change on man and the environment, Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo
Angara said yesterday.

“Disasters like floods, droughts, forest
fires and the increase in tropical cyclone have caused too much lives
and material losses amounting to billions of pesos,” Angara said, adding
in pursuing carbon finance in the forestry sector, the role of
government cannot be underestimated.

Referring to a document by
the Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department (CPBRD), Angara
strongly endorsed that the Philippines seriously consider mitigating
climate change through the so-called “carbon sequestration” which refers
to the capture and storage of carbon.

This
was the call made by Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III yesterday to a
lawyer at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) who was appointed as law
department chief despite his being dragged in the P700-million ballot
secrecy folder scam last year.

Pimentel urged lawyer Allen Francis
Abaya to turn down the appointment and spare the poll body from further
condemnation even as he bared plans of filing a resolution in the upper
chamber to probe his reported “re-appointment” after having been
suspended for six months.

Abaya, along with six other Comelec
officials, was meted the suspension for approving the alleged highly
overpriced ballot folders that were supposed to be used during the May
10, 2010 presidential elections.

“As a victim of electoral fraud
myself, I am extremely wary of election officials whose record has been
tainted in any way by involvement in election irregularities,” the
senator said..... MORE

Saturday, August 27, 2011

08/27/2011
Noynoy refuses to apologize
to the Hong Kong hostage victims and relatives of the slain tourists,
because he insists that the “Manila massacre” that occurred on Aug. 23,
2010 was the work of one deranged individual, and that the state, not
being responsible for the slaughter, has no need to apologize.

At
the same time, however, Noynoy, through his spokesman, said he wants
Hong Kong’s travel blacklist on the Philippines lifted, as he called
this unfair, especially since his administration has already made
improvements in securing tourists.

Evidently, to this day, Noynoy
and his boys fail to realize just what added damage they have inflicted
on the country’s tourism through that botched hostage rescue operation,
made even more damaging with his rejection of an apology to the victims
and their relatives, as Noynoy refuses to accept responsibility and
accountability for the Manila massacre.

But he forgets that days
or weeks after the botched rescue operations, with public and Hong Kong
pressure mounting, Noynoy did say, and on record, that he was
responsible for the botched rescue. He did say something to the effect
that “at the end of the day,” he was responsible for it. And that is on
record.... MORE

08/27/2011
Something just doesn’t smell
right in what the Moro Islamic Liberation Front leaders are saying with
regard to the rebel group’s placid rejection of the Noynoy government
peace panel proposal, which cancelled out any move to create a substate
that the MILF is demanding from Noynoy.

The group even went to the
extent of saying that there is hope as long as the peace talks
continue, as well as claiming that the MILF’s rejection of the
government’s expanded autonomy offer won’t result in the same way the
MILF reacted violently to the rejection of the Supreme Court of the
Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MoA-AD), where the group of
Ameril Umbra Kato launched several bloody attacks in areas populated by
both Moros and Christians.

A report said that despite the MILF’s
rejection of the government proposal in the peace negotiation, the MILF
leadership does not see a repeat of the 2008 massive atrocities in
Central Mindanao which killed hundreds of civilians triggered by the
SC’s declaration of the MoA-AD as unconstitutional.

MILF spokesman
Von Al Haq stressed the MILF leadership has not monitored any
disgruntled group within the organization except for the group of
renegade commander Ameril Umbra Kato, who was declared “bughaat” or
rebel by the MILF Central Committee..... MORE

08/27/2011
NEW DELHI — He may dress,
talk and fast like his hero Mahatma Gandhi, but critics say anti-graft
activist Anna Hazare has only managed to co-opt the style, not the
substance, of India’s independence icon.

The figure of Gandhi
looms large — and literally — over Hazare’s anti-corruption campaign,
with a giant photograph of the apostle of non-violence providing the
backdrop to the 74-year-old’s public hunger strike.

Hazare’s
speeches are peppered with Gandhian references to a “second freedom
struggle” and his own diminutive, bespectacled appearance, and
preference for simple white clothing, all serve to reinforce the link in
the public mind.

If the effort to embrace Gandhi’s legacy is
sincere, it is also conscious and calculated, and observers say it has
paid dividends by tapping into a national yearning for an inspirational
leader..... MORE

“I was so afraid and confused. He is a priest; I attended
mass and received communion from him. After that first time I saw that
he was not at all what he showed the world to be,” she said.
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIOBulatlat.com

She believed him to a be a man of God, but he turned out to be the one who would abuse and torment her.
Seventeen-year old “Leah” is currently under the protection and
custody of women’s group Gabriela as she and her family begin their
fight for justice against what has been done to her by a priest in
Tubay, Butuan City.

The 17-year old girl is accusing 47-year old priest Fr. Raul Cabonce
of repeatedly sexually abusing and raping her while she was under his
care in his parochial residence in Butuan. Leah was one of Cabonce’s two
wards. She began staying in the priest’s official residence after he
made an offer to Leah and her family that he would help send her to
school. A mutual acquaintance and Leah’s neighbor facilitated Leah’s
transfer to the priest’s parish.

In a detailed affidavit, Lead described in full and incriminating
detail how the priest began to show interest in her and how the interest
escalated to sexual abuse and rape. According to Leah. Cabonce first
abused her on September 2010.

Seventeen-year old “Leah” wants her abuser and rapistpunished so “He
won’t do what he did to me to other children, other women.” (Photo by Ina Alleco Silverio / Bulatlat.com)

“I was cooking dinner when he walked up close to me and began
touching me. I was shocked and very alarmed when he began touching my
breasts and waist,” she said.
It was not the first time that Leah saw the priest conducting himself in such a way.

“I had previously seen him touching Rachel (not her real name); and
when seated he would pull Rachel to his lap and touch her just about
everywhere. I felt very uncomfortable and ill whenever I saw him do that
to her, but I was afraid to say anything.”

When she brought it up with Rachel, the 20-year old told her that “it
didn’t matter.” She told Leah that she and her family were very
indebted to the priest for all the help he had given them since Rachel
was a fifth grade student.

Leah said she first believed that what Cabonce did to her did not
really mean anything and so she resolved to put it out of her mind. Her
hopes that it would not be repeated were immediately put to an end by
February 27, 2011 when Cabonce made further advances.

On that date, Cabonce made Leah give him a massage and ,in the
process, forced her to have oral sex. The minor was almost paralyzed
with fear especially after the priest allegedly threatened to kill her
and her family if she said anything to anyone about what happened. The
priest reportedly owns three guns — two of them short arms, and Leah has
seen all of them.

“I was so afraid and confused. He is a priest; I attended mass and
received communion from him. After that first time I saw that he was not
at all what he showed the world to be,” she said.

Leah also found out that the priest has a girlfriend, supposedly an
older girl who attended college also in Butuan. She often saw the girl
in the convent and she stayed with the priest in the parish house.

“There was also a time when I was able to read the sent box of her
cellphone and I saw also Fr. Cabonce’s messages to her. It was obvious
from the messages that they have a relationship,”she said.

Leah and Rachel by then had practically ceased to have contact with
the outside world. Whenever Cabonce was in the parish, he ordered them
to stay indoors and not communicate with anyone, not even through their
cellphones..... MORE